June 2024

Hearing the Voices of Indigenous People with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities

A new report sheds light on Indigenous people with neurodevelopmental disabilities (LD, ADHD, ASD and others) who are among the most marginalized groups in the Canada. But there is also hope.

October 2024 Conference Topics

Our Network is planning a conference for Learning Disabilities & ADHD Awareness Month this October! In order to make it as relevant as possible, please share your ideas on potential presentations or workshops you would be interested in by completing a short survey. 

What topics would you like to see addressed?

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Improving Psycho-educational Assessment Access in Alberta the focus of New Bill

"Alberta parents, teachers and the official opposition are pushing for better provincial access to psycho-educational assessments for students.

The assessments are a way to collect information about a child’s academic and social functioning to better understand their strengths, weaknesses and learning needs. They’re typically requested by parents or teachers and can identify complex disabilities at a young age.

But currently, in Alberta, they’re not easy to come by."

Newcomers families face many challenges not the least of which is figuring out how the system works for children with LD or ADHD and where to find help. Luz Buritica, the program manager of Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) at the Calgary Women's Immigrant Association (CIWA), writes about self-advocacy for parents from a newcomer perspective, the final instalment in our self-advocacy series.

If you are interested in participating in this study or for more information, please contact: Alyssa Neville, Research Coordinator, School of Early Childhood Studies at alyssa.neville@torontomu.ca or Dr. Fiona Moola, Principal Investigator, School of Early Childhood Studies at fiona.moola@torontomu.ca

Calgary researchers explore taming ADHD using magnetic pulses on brain

"Frustrated with the symptoms of her ADHD, Camryn Mitchell didn’t need a second thought before offering her brain to test a novel treatment for her condition.



“You can’t focus, you stop paying attention and then you realize you stopped paying attention — socializing, communicating (are challenging), I have a hard time making friends,” said the 15-year-old, a Grade 10 student at Foothills Composite high school."

 Requesting Accommodations in the Workplace

This guide for supporting clients with disabilities was a collaborative effort between Policy Wise for Families & Children, the Alberta Human Rights Commission and the Calgary Immigrant Women's Association. It is clearly laid out, uses plain language and provides helpful examples. Add this great tool for assisting clients to learn how to be successful advocates for themselves in the workplace to your resource toolbox.

Strategy Instruction for Students with Learning Disabilities

This second edition has been updated with new material including Response to Intervention (RTI) and ADHD.

"Filling an important need for K-12 educators, this highly practical book provides a step-by-step guide to cognitive strategy instruction, one of the most effective instructional techniques for struggling learners. The authors present well-validated strategies that target self-regulated learning and study skills as well as performance in specific content areas, such as writing, reading, and math."

Neurodiversity 101: When does hot desking make you go cold?

In the world of flexible office environments, hot desking can be a boon or a barrier.

"The reality is that hot-desking is not awful for everybody but it may be really challenging for some." Dr. Amanda Kirby gathered the experiences of 800 neurodivergent employees. Here is what they had to say.

Note: this is a LinkedIn article.

The Learning Disabilities & ADHD Network is a collaborative initiative of a broad group of organizations, which is operated through Foothills Academy and supported by an Anonymous Donor at the Calgary Foundation.